Transporting mechanism.



M. P. VOM HOFF.

TRANSPORTING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 11, 1900.

Patented May 30, 1911.

W mvda UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAX FRIEDRICH VOM I-IOFF, OF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TOOF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.

TRANSPORTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1911.

Application filed November 11, 1909. Serial No. 527,463.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAX FRIEDRICH vonr HOFF, a subject of the GermanEmperor, and a resident of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to TransportingMechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in endless cabletransporting apparatus such as is commonly employed for loading vesselswith coal and particularly to the manner of supporting and guiding suchcables. In apparatus of this character it is customary to provide thesupporting rolls for the cable with guards, generally in the form ofrollers, for retaining the cable in proper engagement with thesupporting wheels or rollers over which it travels and such apparatusespecially when used for coaling vessels at sea is commonly providedwith two sets of wheels or drums a, b, c and means whereby the cable canbe disconnected or thrown off from a driving roll when necessary, as forinstance if the tow cable connecting the two vessels should break. Ascommonly constructed, however, the guard rollers have prevented a readydisengagement of the cable from the supporting wheels with which theycooperate.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of anendless cable transporting mechanism of the character to which thepresent invention relates; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a singlesupporting wheel of such a mechanism and two cooperating guard rollersconstructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 3 is asectional view through the construction illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 4illustrates in elevation another embodiment of the invention.

Referring endless cab to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the e is guidedand supportedd by a 7 7", which are commonly supported by the masts orother suitable uprights on two vessels connected by a tow cable designedto prevent undesirable separation of the vessels. Cooperating with thewheels or drums 72,0, (Z and e, are guard wheels or rollers and as abovenoted, such a mechanism is commonly provided with means whereby in eventof breakage of the tow cable the drum or wheel a, for example, may berocked to disengage the cable therefrom. However, if the guard wheelscooperating with the supporting wheels or drums d, e, for example, aresuch that the cable is not permitted to readily slip from saidsupporting wheels, it will be seen that the distance between the twosets of rolls b, c, and (Z, 6, will be increased, the rolls cl, 6, andf, moving into the position indicated in dotted lines 'as the twovessels move apart.

The particular object of the present invention is to provide guardwheels of such character that when the wheel or drum a, for example, isdisconnected from the cable, the latter will be permitted to easily slipfrom the other supporting rolls so that there will be no danger ofeither the cable being broken or damage done to the masts or other partsof the supporting means of the cable mechanism in event of breakage of atow cable.

As shown in the drawing, each supporting wheel or drum in accordancewith the present invention, is provided with a beveled or concavedperiphery in which the cable 1 fits and the guard rollers g, h, or 2',k, for example, have correspondingly shaped peripheries and normallycooperate with the cable to retain it in proper position upon thesupporting wheel. Each of said guard wheels is mounted in such mannerthat when the cable is disconnected from a driving wheel and tends toslip from the supporting wheel, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2,such guard wheel will be automatically moved by the cable out ofoperative position. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3,said guard wheels are carried by supports which are radially movable toand from the supporting wheel, being normally held in position tocontact with the cable by springs t. It will be seen that when slippingthe cable the strain or pull exerted thereby upon the inclined surfacesof the guard wheels will cause the latter to move outwardly and thuspermit the cable to become disengaged from the supporting wheel withoutbeing broken or n, are provided respectively with fingers g, 7", whichextend over a relatively stationary support or stud s. The surfaces ofsaid lingers in engagement with the said stud s, are curved so that eachsupport m, 12, may be rocked about the axis p under the strain or forceexerted by the cable Z when slipping from the supporting wheel. In thisform of the invention, the guard wheels are main.- tained in operativeengagement with the cable and supporting wheel by the pull or weight ofthe cable acting on the supporting wheel.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the presentinvention provides means by which an endless cable may be automaticallyslipped from a supporting wheel without danger of injuring or breakingany of the parts.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters-Patent, is,

1. The combination with an endless cable and a supporting wheeltherefor, of a guard cooperating with said wheel to retain the cable inengagement therewith, said guard being adapted to be automatically movedfrom operative relation with the wheel when the cable is shifted todisengage it from the supporting wheel.

2. The combination with an endless cable and a supporting wheeltherefor, of a guard cable and supporting wheel to retain the cable inengagement with said wheel, said guard wheels being independentlymovable away from the supporting wheel by the action of the cable whenthe latter is to be dis engaged from the supporting wheel.

4:. The combination with an endless cable, of a supporting wheel havinga beveled periphery adapted to receive and support the cable, and aguard wheel having a beveled periphery adapted to cooperate with thecable to retain it in engagement with said supporting wheel, said guardwheel being automatically moved into inoperative position by action ofthe cable under an excessive strain.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MAX FRIEDRICH VOM HOFF.

lVitnesses FRANZ HASSLACHER, ERWIN DEPPEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

